First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Announces Earnings Results

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06, Zacks reports. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 10.32%.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $27.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 474,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 453,294. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $20.59 and a one year high of $31.18. The company has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In related news, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total transaction of $87,930.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $565,067.49. This trade represents a 13.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 4,068 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total transaction of $122,080.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 70,652 shares in the company, valued at $2,120,266.52. The trade was a 5.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,700 shares of company stock valued at $335,429. Corporate insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on FFBC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens raised shares of First Financial Bancorp. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

About First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp. operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Bank that provides commercial banking and related services to individuals and businesses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The company offers checking, savings, and money-market accounts; and accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for commercial customers.